Senator Mark Kirk was sworn in on Monday, November 29, 2010. He will participate in the lame duck session of Congress, fulfilling the last few weeks of President Obama’s Senate term after having won in a special election to replace Senator Roland Burris in the recent mid-term election. Mr. Burris had been appointed to President Obama’s former Senate seat nearly 2 years ago by convicted former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

To ensure that ALL of the people of Illinois are represented by Senator Kirk (even those who didn’t vote for him) I have launched “Senator Mark Kirk Watch.”This effort came in response to 3 key things:

1.) The fact that there is an increasingly polarizing tone between Democrats and Republicans under President Obama’s leadership. It appears that Republicans are more concerned about partisanship and selfish political interests than they are about the people they represent — particularly the “least of these.” This type of attitude of self-entitlement by people that represent us is absolutely unacceptable. The only way it can change however, is through ongoing political engagement. This is the start of such an effort.

2.) Former Senator Roland Burris has said several times in the media that some elected officials on the Republican side have made a concerted effort to be uncooperative with the President, seemingly in hopes that he fails even though he was elected overwhelmingly by the American people. I want to make sure Senator Kirk does not participate in this kind of political pettiness and instead maintains a commitment to bi-partisanship and cooperation on behalf of the people of this great state.

3.) During the mid-term elections, WVON hosted debates/roundtables with candidates in key campaigns in an effort to give them a chance to speak directly to our audience and answer questions about their policies and agendas. Mark Kirk refused to participate. Did he deem WVON’s Democratic-leaning, mostly African-American audience irrelevant? It certainly seems that way to me.

Therefore, in an effort to “keep him honest” I have been motivated to consistently monitor his legislative actions and decisions in the Senate. I will stay in regular contact with his office as a means to extend an olive branch, build a relationship, keep him aware of our most pressing concerns and to ultimately have him as a guest on my WVON radio show so that he can speak directly to our esteemed audience once and for all.

Here is a copy of the letter I sent to Senator Kirk’s office on Wednesday, December 1, 2010. It is a PDF file: Mark Kirk Letter – 1

According to a representative in Washington D.C., Kirk’s Illinois office is not fully up and running yet and the person I spoke to could not provide the name of a Director of Constituent Services. I will provide an update on this information as soon as possible. In the meantime, if you would like to contact Senator Kirk immediately, you can mail or call his D.C. office with your questions and concerns:

Remember: there is power in strategy. There is strength in numbers. Feel free to leave your comments below.

UPDATE: JANUARY 28, 2011

Today I had a representative of Project Vote Smart on the Monique Caradine Show. They keep tabs on the voting records of elected officials. My guest Adelaide Kimball explained why Senator Kirk failed their political courage test. Essentially, that means he refused to tell citizens where he stands on any of the issues addressed in the 2010 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart, national media, and prominent political leaders.

You can see details regarding that test here.
Also, I spoke to a representative from Senator Kirk’s office. I asked her to add me to the Senator’s community outreach mailing lists and I fowarded her a copy of the letter you see above so that it could be delivered to the Senator.